Electric-circuit controller.



E. A. HALBLEIB & T. L. LEE.

ELECTRIC cmcun CONTROLLER.

APPLICATION FILED JUNE 26,1915.

Patented Aug.

UNITED STATES PAT Fries.

EDWARD A. HALBLEIB AND THOMAS L. LEE, OF ROCHESTER, NEW YORK, ASSIG-NCRS TO NORTH EAST ELECTRIC COMPANY, OF ROCHESTER,

OF NEW YORK.

NEW YORK, A CORPORATICIST ELECTRIC-CIRCUIT CONTROLLER.

Patented Aug. 28, 191%.

Application filed June 26, 1915. Serial No. 36,518.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, EDWARD A. HAL- BLEIB and THOMAS L. LEE, citizens of the United States, and residents of Rochester, in the county of Monroe and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Electric-Circuit Controllers, of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to electromagnetic devices for controlling electric circuits, an particularly to devices in which the contactmembers are controlled by a solenoidmagnet.

One object of the invention is to produce a device of the kind in question which shall be compact in form, simple in construction and reliable in operation, and in which the parts shall be easy to assemble and also easy to take apart when necessary for the purpose of inspection or repair. To this end we employ a construction and arrangement'of the solenoid magnet, the contactmembers, and the shell or casing which in- 25 closes them which will be described hereinafter.

Other objects of the invention", and the features of construction by which they are attained, will be set forth in connection with the following description of the illustrated embodiment of the invention.

In the accompanying drawings Figure 1 is a vertical, mediansection of a circuit-controller embodying the present invention Fig. 2 is a plan-view of the fixed contactmembers, shown in the relative positions which they occupy when in use;

Fig. 3 is a plan-view of one of the disks constituting the movable contact-member; and

Fig. 4 is a vertical section, on an enlarged scale, taken on a plane at a right-angle to the section-plane in Fig. 1 and showing, in detail, the contact-members and the parts immediately associated therewith.

A feature of the invention resides in an arrangement of parts by which the magnet and the contact-members are all inclosed within a generally cylindrical casing which constitutes also a part of the magnetic circuit of the electro-magnet by which the device is actuated. To this end we employ a cylindrical shell 5 of iron, 55 vided with an integral diaphragm 6 dividwhich is prc- D completed by an armature ing it into upper and lower chambers. The upper chamber incloses a solenoid-coil 7 of nsulated wire, which constitutes the windlng of the magnet. Integral with the diaphragm 6 is a cylindrical pole-piece 8. The upper end of the shell is closed by an iron cover or head 9 which has a central sleeve 10. The magnetic circuit passes. through the pole-piece 8, the diaphragm 6, the shell 5 and the head 9 with its sleeve 10, and is 11 in the form of which fits loosely a cylindrical iron body within the sleeve 10. This armature is mounted to slide freely on a central rod 13, so that it may move toward and from the pole-piece 8, and the armature and the polepiece have corresponding conical surfaces, as shown, to provide for a comparatively long movement of the armature without the occurrence of a large air-gap between the armature and the pole-piece.

The lower end of the shell 5 is closed by a plate or base 12, which may be made of brass or any other convenient material. The rod 13, in addition to providing a guide upon which the armature moves, constitutes a tie-rod to hold the head and the base in position. at the ends of the-shell. For this purpose its lower end is provided with a nut 17 which engages the bottom of the base 12, while a nut 14:, at the upper end of the tierod, engages a disk 15 which closes the upper end of the sleeve 10 and also clamps the head against the shell. The solenoid 7 is connected with binding-posts 30 mounted on the head, to'permit it to be connected with external conductors.

The armature 11 actuates a movable contact-member 18. This member comprises a series of disks, of flexible sheet-metal, which are mounted on a sleeve 19 arranged to slide freely on the tie-rod 13, the contact-member being insulated from the sleeve, however, as shown in the drawings. The sleeve is pressed upwardly by a helical spring 20, but its upward movement is limited by a collar 21 which engages a shoulder on the diaphragm 6. The armature abuts loosely against the upper end of the sleeve, and when the solenoid is energized the armature is drawn downwardly toward the pole-piece 8, thus sliding the sleeve downwardly on the tie-rod. The upward return-movement of the parts is caused by the spring 20', and to prevent the armature from jarring against 11c the disk 15 a washer 16, of felt or other suitable material, is interposed between these parts. This washer may also be moistened with oil to provide the small amount of lubrication necessary between the armature and the sleeve 19 and the tie-rod.

Two fixed semi-annular contact members 22 are employed, which are mounted on, but insulated from, the base 12. The fixed contact-members are provided with bindingposts 24: which are shown as cast into them, and which extend downwardly through the base for connection with'external conductors; The binding-posts serve also'to fix the contact-members in place, and the members are further secured by the construction shown' particularly in Figs. 2 and 4. The adjacent ends of the members are widened and recessed, and between each pair of ends is a i'ivet 26 which engages a washer 27of insulating material resting on the ends 25 and thus clamps these ends against the base.

The fixed contact-members have concave conical contact-surfaces, and the movable contact-member 18 is also formed with a generally conical contact-surface by graduating the diameters of the flexible disks of which it is composed. The inclinations of the two conical surfaces are slightly different, however, so that when the contactmember. 18 moves-downwardly the uppermost disk is first engaged withthe fixed contact-members. A slight further downward movement, which is permitted by the bending of this disk, causes the next disk below to engage the fixed contact-members, and so on until the lowermost disk is in engagement, the upper disks yielding gradually and progressively, as shown in Fig. 4. In this manner a firm engagement of each of the disks with the fixed contact-members is insured, and thus provision is made for a wide area of effective contact-surface. When the contact-member 18 rises the disengagement of the disks occurs successively, the final disengagement occurring at the periphery of the uppermost and largest disk, so that whatever arcing may occur is distributed throughout a long line of contact-sun ace.

In order to permit the disks to yield read ily, as described, they are slit radially, as shown in Fig. 3, so as to divide them into independently yieldable fingers 28. This formation has the added advantage that the occurrence of any protuberances or roughness on either of the contact-members has only a local effect, and does not interfere with the proper engagement of the adjacent portions of the contact-members.

The use of the sleeve 19, which is freely rotation the wear upon the contact-members is thereby distributed evenly, so that for a long period they will retain their effectiveness and engage each other substantially throughout their cooperative surfaces.

It will be apparent that the general structure of the device above described is such as to lend itself readily to inexpensive methods of manufacture, since the various members are for the most part concentric and can be formed by ordinary turning and boring operations. This arrangement also has the advantage that it practically insures correct assembling, so that the parts will be reassembled in their proper operative relation however often the controller may be taken apart for inspection or'repair. The construction is such also as to afford complete protection to all of the working parts, which within the nature of the invention as it is defined in the following claims. We claim '1. An electric circuitmontroller having, in

combination, a solenoid; a shell inclosing the solenoid; removable closuresat the ends of the shell; a tie-rod connecting the closures and coaxial with the solenoid; an armature cooperating with the solenoid and mounted to slide on the tie-rod;-and a contact-member actuated by the armature.

2. An electric circuit-controller having, in

.combination, a cylindrical shell, of magnetic material, provided with a diaphragm having a centrally perforated pole-piece; a solenoid 'inclosed in the shell, between said diaphragm 

